The Problem with Origins - Map

Sup.

So, before we get into it, just want ot say - I enjoyed Origins. On the whole, I think that it's a good game, and I'm looking forward to playing Odyssey. Bayek was an interesting character, and his interactions with Aya and a host of other characters, and his quest - even if a little generic - was engaging enough that I wanted to follow through with it.

Plus, it had Romans, and you know that I love me some Romans.

However, that doesn't forgive it for a number of faults. First off, the Map.

And just so everyone is aware, from here on out, there will be SPOILERS, so don't read on if that's a problem.

Alright, now that that's out of the way...

The Map. I actually really like the map - it's an interesting mix of urban and rural, wet and dry, thriving and dead. The banks of the Nile are lush and thriving, the delta is a humid swamp, the north coast is the only spot it rains, and the mountains around Kyrenaika feel more like southern Greece or Italy than Egypt. To say nothing of the deserts that alternate between rocky, sandy and Mountainous. In all honesty, it's a beautifully put together map, and I really can't give it enough credit, nor can the aerial view here really do it justice.

So, why am I complaining about it?

Well, making a good map is one thing. Not easy, obviously, but it's a skill you can learn. What's harder though, is to use it well. And this is something that I feel the Origins team stumbled at.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I present the route you follow:

As you can see, it's a mess. To quickly surmise the plot; your son has been killed by the Pharaos' advisors, and you want revenge. You ally with Cleopatra, who is trying to overthrow him, and agrees to help you if you help her. Now, with that out the way...

I've broken it down into Sequences - the in-game equivalent to Acts. To go through it quickly, Sequence 1 starts you off in Siwa, and is mostly just a tutorial. Then, it skips through the Qatar Depression during a loading screen so Sequence 2 takes place around Lake Mareotis and into Alexandria. Sequence 3 and 4 lead you up the Nile to Memphis, and Sequence 5 and 6 roughly follow the coast of the Faiyum. After this, you have to make your way back to the Mouth of the Nile to Herakleion, and then something strange happens.
Basically, and I'll get more into it next time, you have the pre-ending conversation - you know the one, "After we start, you'll not be able to go back. Are you sure you're ready, or do you have any tasks you need to finish?" followed by the only Yes/No prompt in the game. And, if you agree, it begins the Battle of the Nile. Then, after that finishes, you find out that your arch-nemesis has fled to Siwa, and you teleport there in a cutscene. You ride through your home, ravaged by war, and into an ancient temple, where you find your best friend has been murdered. And then you bury him, and the game goes 'okay, he's in Kyrenaika, you know the drill' and hands over the reigns. So, then there's another couple hours worth of free-roaming travel to the final boss fight.
I hope you can see why this is so weird. I'll talk more about it next time, but... yeah.
Anyway, so that explains the map - and why just one section is blue. That's the 'Endgame' part, that doesn't come at the end. But even ignoring that, it's just very weirdly put together.
Why does it skip over the Qatar Depression? Why are three adjacent areas meant to be done several hours apart - Mareotis, Sap-Meh and Herakleion? Why is Atef-Pehu Nome higher level than Faiyum, but lower than Faiyum Oasis? And why on earth does it loop back on itself so often? It's just not clean design. And why are several completely unrelated areas completely untouched? None of the Desert areas, and even weirder Marmarica, are ever visited in spite of some very interesting sites. A giant Citadel, and a huge Precursor complex, for example.
To be honest, I actually very much know the reason for it. It's because they wanted to show Alexandria and the Pyramids as soon as possible, and then worked around that.

And so, as promised, I present my alternative:

First off, before I even start, you can see a much cleaner shape for it. You start in Siwa, loop the whole map, and end up back in Siwa. It looks like a single progressive journey, rather than my footfall when I can't remember where I left my keys.
Now, admittedly, there are still areas I have left out, and some switchbacks, but it is a lot less blatant. And, importantly, it follows a narrative progression; you begin in the south, where the ancient ways hold true, and work your way north through the Hellenisation of Egypt until you reach the capital - Alexandria. A city completly alien to everything you have seen thus far. And from there, westward, into the land of the Romans, before returning home for a final showdown. Which plays into a minor subplot for Bayek - throughout, he is shown to resent the treatment of his people by the foreign aristocracy. Here, we could see this in stages - first, he sees how the poor are mistreated by the rich in Faiyum. Then, moving north, he realises that even rich Egyptians are second class to the Greeks. And, when he reaches Kyrenaika, he sees that the Romans do the same.
It would, of course, require some changes. But I don't think any would be that hard. Re-order your targets, change the context for some meetings - in Mareotis you meet an old friend who is now a High Priest. That could be less a meeting with an old friend, more gathering the support of the Priesthood for you coming war. Memphis becomes where you meet Cleopatra, and Kyrenaika could be where you finally catch your foe, but he slips through your fingers, forcing a final battle in the temple where it all began. Symmetry.

I don't know that there is much else to say really, without going into the plot. And, believe me, I'll be going into the plot next time. But, for now, I'll leave you here. And, I get to say something that I haven't in over a year. So, thank you for sticking with me, and I'll see you all next time.

Here it comes.

Volodanti out.